Hollywood Students Leave '90s Imprint In Time Capsules

CELEBRATIONS - YOUTH

And in a way, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students at Nativity Catholic School in Hollywood got their wish _ by burying three time capsules on the facility's property.

``Maybe whoever finds the capsules will start dressing like us and listening to our music. We're the nostalgia of tomorrow,'' said Mike Mirto, 13, of Plantation.

``There will be a revival of the '90s,'' said Megan Sutter, 13, of Pembroke Pines.

``And if the future is a bad place full of cold technology and war, we will be a reminder to return to more simpler lives,'' said Nicole Hider, 13, of Hollywood. ``We'll give them ideas about how we communicated and had fun.''

Social studies teacher Rick Kometic, of Hollywood, organized more than 200 students to put together the three capsules, one for each grade, packed with items depicting life as of January 1997. From fashion magazines to the Sun-Sentinel front page of Jan. 27, from baseball cards to recipe cards, from dimes to dollar bills, the students each donated something to help fill the plastic boxes.

``The children buried pop, jazz and rock recordings, videotapes of their friends here at school, photos of each other and letters addressed to the finders of the capsules,'' Kometic said. ``They collected things that represent our culture and buried a tidbit of each for posterity.''

The collection included items or photographs representing food, clothing, shelter, religion, government and commerce and a list of the names of project participants.

Eighth-grader Patricia Palmer, 14, of Hollywood said gathering items for the time capsules helped the students learn and appreciate more about life today.

``While we were collecting things we were learning more about technology, business, fashion, music, everything,'' she said. ``I hope when someone finds this hundreds of years from now they'll see us as a good people.''

Nativity Principal Elena Ortiz said the activity made the children ``appreciate the quality of their lives now and made them think about what role they want to play in the future. Hopefully, they'll look back on these days and remember it as a very good time.''

In 1976, during Kometic's first year as a Nativity teacher, he buried a single time capsule in the courtyard.

During the early '80s the school was expanded and the time capsule is now under a concrete slab. A pole bearing the American flag stands atop it.

``It's almost poetic that the flag would fly above the time capsule,'' Kometic said.

Derek Dietiker, 13, of Hollywood, said working on the project gave a welcome break to the regular routine school day.

``Usually we just study and do lots of book work,'' he said. ``But today we became a part of history. We froze time inside the capsules and all our names are there to prove it.''